London fire: Witness recalls seeing man catch baby

Samira Lamrani said she saw a woman drop a baby from a window on the ninth or 10th floor to people on the sidewalk.

People leave donations near the burning 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London. "As I was going down the stairs, there were firefighters, truly unbelievable firefighters that were actually going upstairs, to the fire, trying to get as many people out the building as possible", he told the BBC.

Policing and fire minister Nick Hurd said checks are now planned on similar tower blocks. Twelve were confirmed to have died and more than 70 treated in hospital.

The trigger for the fire has been attributed to a faulty fridge on one of the lower floors - the third or fourth floor - however some eyewitnesses also reported seeing blue flames which could indicate a gas explosion.

Construction firm Rydon, which carried out a £8.6m refurbishment of the exterior of Grenfell Tower previous year, installing cladding and new windows, said its work "met all required building control, fire regulation, and health and safety standards".

In a blog post in November, it accused the Kensington and Chelsea Tenants' Management Organization (KCTMO), which manages the housing block on behalf of the local authority, of allowing "dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation".

"In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never, ever seen anything of this scale", Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said.

Witnesses said they heard screaming from the upper floors as the flames raced up the tower.

"I saw people jumping out of their windows", Khadejah Miller, who was evacuated from her home nearby, told AFP.

But the building was already engulfed in fire, according to Joe Ruane, the former deputy chief fire officer for U.S. Air Force bases in Britain.

"When something like this happens sometimes you do feel a bit helpless but at the same time we know that some people have lost everything". But the smoke covered them.

In this photo taken from aerial video, smoke rises from a high-rise apartment building on fire in London, June 14, 2017.

Nassima Boutrig, who lives across from the building, said she was awakened by sirens and smoke so thick that it filled her home as well.

Paul Fuller, chairman of the Fire Sector Federation, said sprinklers could have helped lessen the impact of the fire.

Nigel went on: "200 firefighters were there tackling the blaze and many of whom actually going into the building".

"There was a huge outpouring from the community to say "we want to do something".

"This is mass murder and these people need to be put into court", he said. "I could not find the stairs". It said the cause of the blaze would be "fully investigated".

The tower was built in 1974. According to minutes of a KCTMO board meeting in July 2016 said works were carried out to address the issues raised in the enforcement notices. "They have very complex and effective fire protections and life-safety systems that all work together to get fires out quickly and absolutely confine them to the suite of origin".

Share

Related Articles

Scuttled ships block the entrance to the Suez canal at Port Said during the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt. Zeina, a 6-year-old Belgian-Palestinian girl, waves a Palestinian flag during a protest in central Brussels.

The NBA Finals on ABC is expected to win the night across all of television for the 60th consecutive time. Smith 25 for the Cavaliers , who, like the Warriors , were competing in their third straight Finals.

India will be playing Bangladesh in the semi-final of ICC Champions Trophy for the first time in the history of the tournament. India bowlers' economy rate of 4.33 in the first Powerplay was the best in the league stages; Bangladesh's 5.60 was the worst.

Rodman made his first trip to North Korea in 2013 with Vice Media correspondent Ryan Duffy, to host basketball exhibitions. A senior Trump administration official told TV broadcaster Fox News Rodman was going to the North "as a private citizen".

A handful of insurers, led by Anbang, have issued higher-yielding products to raise funds to acquire stakes in listed companies. The exact nature of Mr Wu's role in any government investigation has become the subject of widespread speculation.

Investigators are also seeking to learn whether any Trump campaign associates colluded with Russian officials in the meddling. Ruddy told ABC News that he stands by his comments that the president is considering asking Rosenstein to terminate Mueller .

Indianapolis attorney Jim Carlberg, who is representing the landlords, voiced his concerns via telephone during the hearing. The company wants to pay $8 million for the four Marshes left in OH and 11 other in stores.

Met entertains the crowd between innings of a game between the Mets and the San Diego Padres at Citi Field on May 25, 2017. Mets: RHP Matt Harvey (4-3, 4.95) faces the Pirates after beating them last Sunday night at PNC Park.

Latest news

Firefighters battling massive blaze in London high-rise
Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California both spoke on the floor issuing calls for unity. A view on the burning Grenfell Tower , a 24-storey apartment building in North Kensington, London , Britain, 14 June 2017.

Jeremy Corbyn keeps his eyes on Downing Street
May, however, insisted her party was still in pole position to lead, despite falling short by eight seats, CNN reports . Sturgeon said the results showed that "the reckless Tory pursuit of a " hard Brexit " must now be abandoned".

Fox News is no longer 'Fair & Balanced'
A banner that doesn't toe the party line? "Fair - balanced and Unafraid". "He would say, 'The news is like a ship". Fox News has had multiple slogans during its history, including "We Report ".

US Crude Stocks Bounce Unexpectedly
Last month, the cartel agreed a deal with non-OPEC to continue its 1.8 bpd production cuts until March 2018 at the earliest . The concern is that that spat will lead the OPEC members to disregard their production-cutting agreement.